EatingWell Blogs (Page 9)

I’m a vegetable lover. I eat vegetables at least three times a day: sautéed chard stirred into scrambled eggs for breakfast, a big garden-fresh salad for lunch and grilled corn and steamed potatoes as side dishes with dinners in the summer. I don’t have much trouble eating enough vegetables, but I know I’m the exception, not the rule.

Ninety percent of Americans don’t eat enough vegetables, according to the USDA. The recommended amount for everyone age 9 and up is two to three servings a day. (For most vegetables, like green beans, a serving is 1 cup. For raw leafy vegetables, like salad greens, a serving is 2 cups.)...

This time of year, I load up on summer veggies. I only go to the grocery store once a week, which means I have to keep my produce stored properly to avoid ending up with a giant pile of bad veggies ready for the compost pile at the end of the week. So, what's the best way to store them to keep them at their freshest?

Most weekends in the kitchen of my first apartment in San Francisco I would pull out my Dutch oven (one of the few pots I owned) and make a big steaming cauldron of soup. Everything went into the one pot. When I was done, all I had to clean was my cutting board and that pot. It was so simple, but the soups were satisfying, healthy and delicious.

Today I have plenty of counter space and all the pots and pans and kitchen doodads I could hope for, but what I lack most often is time. Cooking a meal all in one pot is perfect for anyone who is busy and wants to get a healthy dinner on the table with little fuss. Having a few good-quality pots at your disposal puts you on the fast track to dinners that are just as easy to clean up after as they are to make. Here are 6 pots every kitchen should have:

When I’m in a rush to get dinner on the table (which is often), I turn to my freezer for help. I like to keep it well stocked with a few essential ingredients that will allow me to get a quick and effortless dinner on the table fast. Plus filling my freezer with healthy options makes it less enticing to run and get takeout. Here are a few of my favorite foods to have on hand and some of the recipes that use them:

1. Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough: With all the topping combos out there, I think it’s impossible to get tired of pizza—and with the dough at the ready, it’s a quick meal to pull together. Just take the pizza dough out of your freezer and let it thaw in your fridge 24 hours before you want to use it.